


Lights

by greendragon_templar



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Nationverse, Sibling Relationship, banter and a small amount of self-reflection, im so desperate just to write something so this'll have to do, maybe ever, my worst title in the history of titles, they go looking at christmas lights, what you see is what you get
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 17:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17105375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendragon_templar/pseuds/greendragon_templar
Summary: Australia and New Zealand have some downtime.





	Lights

Australia idles along behind her, scuffing the rubber soles of his thongs on the bitumen. After a punishing day, New Zealand can only be grateful for the relatively cool breeze that combs through and tugs at her hair, almost enough to make her forget how she and her brother were positively _dripping_ earlier. The suburban streets and cul-de-sacs he leads her down and around are a far cry from the claustrophobic, glaring heat so prevalent throughout his cities in December. No aggressively gleaming panels of glass, and no steel – just unassuming and unpresumptuous verandahs, sloping roofs and warm front lights and the occasional overgrown lawn.

Of course, her attention’s _really_ on the Christmas lights.

Australia knows all the best ones, all the real tourist spots that warrant a column in the paper in the lead-up to Christmas, and walking’s better than driving. No two streets are the same; some are bare all the way through, while others feature self-evident rivalries, long strings of properties that would be unrecognisable by day. Australia’s pored over online articles and already taken New Zealand to the most impressive properties from state to state, but suburbia offers something _simpler_ , yet impressive in its own right.

“My favourites,” he says, “are the ones with the giant inflatable Santas. You can’t see ‘em until you get close so they always make me jump.”

“That’s not saying much. You jumped at the world’s slowest jack-in-the-box back there, about three houses down.”

“Well, I’m not _drunk_.”

“I’m sorry. I should be counting my blessings. Why aren’t you?”

“It’s my present to you. You don’t have to drive me home while I scream carols in your ear.”

“God, how lucky I am.”

Australia shoves past her, striding forward at his own, newly-invigorated pace. “So, are you impressed, then?” he asks, almost imploring her, with a vaguely meek quality to his voice.

“Yeah, I am, actually,” New Zealand readily admits. “Some people have really gone all-out. I like the ones with lights all along the roof, and the gutter, and the tacky ones. And—” She pauses, stopping still for a moment, and Australia gets ten metres ahead of her in the time it takes for her to remember. “That’s right! The countdown that someone projected onto the garage.”

“Unreal. How is Christmas only two days away?”

“Probably because you haven’t been paying attention? Not now, not ever.”

Without slowing down, Australia turns around to beam at her, and the flashing red, green, and blue display of the house before them dimly illuminates his grin. “We can keep going. If you’re up for a longer walk I can take you somewhere even better, a few blocks that way—”

“How do you know this area so well? You don’t even live here.”

“I’m allowed to make an effort sometimes! Isn’t this worth it?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I just wanted you to see that a heap of the best displays are outside of the CBD. Look at how much effort everyone puts in,” says Australia, pointing with a flat palm toward someone’s driveway, lit up by rope lights on both sides like an airport runway, with whole nets of lights draped over an array of bushes adjacent to the letterbox. “It makes you feel a bit more human, don’t you think? This is as ordinary as it gets.”

New Zealand rushes to catch up, sliding her hands into the pockets of her shorts. “You’d do this? You’d drag a ladder all around your house for this?”

“Yeah, sure, why not? I already kinda do, in my own way – I stick a few solar lights around the garden and if I get time, I wrap some lights around my trees. But that’s it. I always bloody end up busy right before, and then I never get anything done before it’s all over.”

“You should take extra leave.”

“Christmas light leave?”

“Yep. And, shit, you’re bloody _Australia_ , for God’s sake. They can’t say no, can they?” They laugh.

“I’ll try it out next year,” responds Australia, somewhat unconvincingly, and then nothing more.

New Zealand draws his attention to a house coming up on their right, offering a far superior guide to the streetlights. “That elf looks like England,” she says, and their eyes go to the odd looking doll resting in the front window. “Don’t you reckon?”

“Fuck, you’re so right,” Australia murmurs by way of response, in mock horror, and he reaches for his sister’s arm. “Look away, quick. Probably fucking cursed. Come on.”

“It’s horrifying.”

“Come on,” Australia urges, and they race one another to the next street over.


End file.
